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Patented Fab. 7 I899.

H. RECKER. FIRE LIGHTER. (Application filed June 18, 1898,)

(No Model.)

FFICE.

HENRY RECKER, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO VILLIAM H. MARKS, OF SAME PLACE.

FIRE-LIGHTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'latent No. 619,261, dated February 7, 1899.

Application filed June 16,1898. Serial No. 683.611. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, HENRY BECKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Fire-Lighter, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fire-lighters.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of fire lighters or kindlers and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one in which the asbestos will be held in a compact body without em ploying a containing-receptacle for the same.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a fire-lighter constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a trans verse sectional view. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the handle detached.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a body of asbestos or other suitable non-combustible material,preferably arranged in the form of a roll on atransverse sleeve or bushing 2, which has its ends split longitudinally, and the severed portions are bent out radially to provide an annular series of arms 3 at each end of the roll of asbestos. The radial arms of the sleeve 2 are bent against and firmly embrace the ends of the roll or body, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and2 of the accompanying drawings, and they are slightly curved in order to clamp the asbestos more firmly. The sleeve or tube, which passes through the asbestos, provides a central opening to be engaged by a handle 4, which is preferably constructed of a single piece of wire, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The wire of which the handle is constructed is doubled at its center to form a ring 5 and is twisted to provide a rigid shank or stem 6, and each side of the wire at the inner terminus of the twisted portion or stem is bent to form a forked portion or frame 7. The forked portion or frame 7 is composed of two substantially L-shaped sides and extends across the adjacent face of the asbestos and is arranged at each end of the same. The outer terminals of the forked portion or frame is provided with inwardly-extending arms 8, which enter the opening formed by the tube or sleeve, whereby the handle is attached to the body of asbestos. The wire is returned on the arms 8 to the sides of the frame or forked portion, forming loops of the arms, and it is then bent downward to provide a pair of depending supporting-legs 9, adapted to hold the body of asbestos clear of the supporting-surface.

The device is dipped in coal-oil or other suitable liquid hydrocarbon, and it is ignited and placed beneath a grate, where it will be adapted to kindle a fire, as will be readily understood.

The invention has the following advantages: The fire-kindler is simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, and the sides of the forked portion or frame of the handle may be readily sprung into and out of engagement with the body of asbestos, and the latter is firmly held in a compact body by the split portions or arms of the sleeve or tube.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What I claim is 1. A device of the class described comprising a body of asbestos, a tube passing through the same and having its ends split longitudinally and bent outward forming a series of radial arms embracing the asbestos and hold ing the material together, and a handle having a forked portion engaging the ends of the tube, substantially as described.

2. A device of the class described comprising a body of non-combustible material provided with an opening, and a handle having a forked portion bent downward to form a pair of supporting-legs and extending inward into the opening of the said body, substantially as described.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a body of non-combustible material having an opening, and a handle constructed of In testimony that I claim the foregoing as wire and provided with a forked portion or my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in 10 frame, and having loops extending inward the presence of two Witnesses. from the sides of the same, the wire at the 5 ends of the loops being extended downward HENRY REOKER' to form supporting-legs, said legs projecting WVitnesses: beyond the body, substantially as and for the W. HARRY SAYLOR, purpose described. I J OHN E. VANDERSLOOT. 

